The present invention relates to seating for children. In particular, the invention relates to coverings for child seats that have safety harnesses.
Child seats, such as car seats, swing seats, high chair seats, stroller seats, and infant carriers, commonly comprise a molded plastic shell and a releasable safety harness that is anchored to the shell at least three points. Seat comfort is enhanced by a soft cover that overlies at least the occupant-facing surfaces of the seat shell. Such covers are provided with openings through which the harness straps and hardware can pass. For example, for a three-point harness, the cover has an opening in the crotch region of the seat bottom portion, where a buckle normally is located, and at least one pair of openings in the backrest portion that accommodate shoulder straps. For a five-point harness, the cover has an additional pair of openings to accommodate the lap straps, which either can be joined directly to the shoulder straps or can be distinct from the shoulder straps, depending on the particular harness type. These additional openings can extend through a bight portion of the cover, where the seat bottom portion and the backrest portion meet, or through the seat bottom portion itself.
When the soft cover for the seat becomes soiled, which can occur quite often, the cover must be removed for laundering. The cover removal process usually is quite involved because the harness must be disassembled and unthreaded from the cover and the seat shell. Cover reinstallation requires the cumbersome reverse process of rethreading the harness through the various openings, and readjusting the harness. This invention simplifies the process of cover removal and reinstallation.